Summer of Psalms: Psalm 51
Summer of Psalms • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Figures in IFPI's Global Music Report show total trade revenues for 2022 were US$26.2 billion. Subscription audio streaming revenues increased by 10.3% to US$12.7 billion and there were 589 million users of paid subscription accounts at the end of 2022.
To help conceptualize this number I wanted to show it on the screen
26,200,000,000
That’s a lot of zeros...
The music industry continues to boom
There is something almost instinctual about it
Music is powerful
A song may hype you up/a song may make you want to dance/a song may relax you/a song may even help you sleep
Jordan’s epidural story
Music is powerful
It can be a platform to teach/songs for littles
It can help bring back memories
Some songs you only need to hear the name to start singing it in your head, like baby shark
Even Paul charges us as Christians to sing
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
After all, there is a reason why we dedicate time to sing every Sunday
And so this summer we are going to spend in the book of Psalms
This is a collection of religious hymns for the Jewish nation and even early Christianity
We still even get inspiration from the psalms when writing modern day worship songs
While the singing may have sounded a bit different than today, the sentiment remains the same.
God is praised through song.
So today we are starting off with a great one
Psalm 51 is one of the most well-known psalm
As we read it, you will most likely recognize some of the lines.
It was written by David after being convicted by the prophet Nathan for the affair he had with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah
And so, to help understand the power behind this Psalm we need talk about the setup
David & Sin
David & Sin
If you are not familiar with the story, there are a few things to note
It is located in 2 Samuel
You have several nations either working together to fight over territory or fighting against each other over territory in this region
At this particular point the Ammonites were fighting the Israelites
They had been duking it out before. (2 Sam 10)
In fact the Ammonites hired 33,000 soldiers to fight against the Israelites
Of course that didn’t work out for them and soon other nations were afraid to help the Ammonites because of God’s power through Israel
Now in the spring time, the Ammonites are at it once again
So David sends his best man for the job, Joab
What is interesting is that David stays at home (2 Sam 11:1), which is a topic of debate as to why
Some believe that this is an indication of where his heart and character is now, and that David is starting to be more focus on his desire than leading God’s people.
It also may be that the Ammonites were not a threat and so he did not feel he like he should go.
And we could possibly see these ideas come to full fruition when we see his actions with Bathsheba
However, others point to the fact that David had sent Joab out before and joined the battle at a later time (2 Sam 10:7-19)
Also some of his men had expressed concern for his safety.
Either way, Scripture doesn’t say
The point isn’t how he ended up there, but is actions while he was in Jerusalem
It isn’t so much about how he ended up in Jerusalem, but what he did in Jerusalem
See we are told that David decides to spend an evening on the roof of his palace
Now keep in mind that elevation would allow him to look over his nation
Jason heard it once that he had all the channels
As he is channel surfing he found something that caught his eye
He sees a beautiful woman bathing
And instead of changing the channel, David becomes infatuated with her
Scripture does not indicate her bathing as an attempt to tempt David or anyone
Instead, that David made a choice to pursue someone he will find out he shouldn’t
We are gonna start a list of the concerning things David does
1. David Lusts
While the story is starts out problematic as is, it doesn’t end there.
It’s like pulling a lose thread and soon the whole sweater is undone
This story has beats of someone who keeps digging a bigger hole
David sees what he likes so he sends someone to so he sends someone to find out who she is
When David finds out who she is it should be full stop, no questions asked
First off, she is married…done
She is wife of Uriah one of David’s honored soldiers (2 Sam 23:39)
She is the daughter of Eliam one of his best fighters (2 Sam 23:34), grand daughter of one of his trusted advisors Ahithophel (2 Sam 23:34 & 2 Samuel 16:23)
Yet David invites her up, she accepts, and then they commit adultery
All while Uriah is fighting on the battlefield away from home
Number two for tracking David’s sketchy actions...
2. David Commits Adultery
Now the terrible story should just end there, but of course it doesn’t
Bathsheba then discovers a surprise, she’s pregnant
This of course complicates everything as there is now proof of their affair
David then makes several attempts to cover the whole thing up!
First he pulls Uriah off the battlefield
Second, he creates time to allow Uriah to spend the night with Bathsheba
This would allow for deniability for David
So concerning thing number three…
3. David Manipulates
However, David discovers that Uriah actually stayed with the servants near the palace
When David asks why Uriah would do such a thing we see his refusal was in honor of the men still on the field and devotion to the Lord
So David tries again the next night
David even got Uriah drunk to get him to stay with Bathsheba
Not sure how to add it to our tally, but I feel it deserves an honorable mention.
So David is stuck in a corner.
Uriah is leaving the next day to go back to the battlefield, and Uriah and Bathsheba have not done what David wanted
So David is now faced with a choice.
Either allow the affair come to light (potentially putting his life in danger and his leadership into question), or eliminate Uriah and marry Bathsheba
So he takes option two
So David comes with another plan
Uriah is to head back to the battlefield and so David sends him with a letter to deliver to Joab
The letter says…
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
He literally carries his own death orders
The plan is simple, Uriah will be put out in front where the battle is strongest and Joab will withdraw forces essentially ensuring Uriah’s demise
The plan goes off without a hitch
So sketchy thing number three…
David Commits Murder
Uriah is dead, and David is free to marry Bathsheba and everybody wins right?
Well Scripture is very specific that David displeased the Lord
And so we have David committing an atrocity, while leading God’s people
God uses His prophet Nathan to convict David of his actions
Nathan gives David an analogy to which David becomes enraged at the selfishness of the person in the story, but in a twist Nathan reveals that he is that selfish man
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
While David repents, its at this point that David’s life begins to unravel
David loses his newborn son
His children fight and kill each other
loses 4 sons
His own children rebel against him
While God removed the sin from David, the consequence was still there
It speaks to the calamity and power to destroy that sin has
Addictions are formed, trust is broken, careers ruined, families fall apart, people die because the sin that we commit
And while God is good to forgive, we may still have to live in that brokenness, in that consequence
If we continue on we see David earnestly fasting and praying for his now ill son, and yet to no avail.
Eventually the son dies
It is there, in a state of forgiveness and yet also a state of lamentation for having to live in the consequence of what he has done the we find David in Psalm 51
That is where we see him pen this psalm
A Recognition of Guilt
A Recognition of Guilt
No Bible story describes the heart’s convicting quite like 2 Samuel 12, no Bible prayer expresses the lips’ confessing quite like Psalm 51.
Psalm 51:1–6 (NIV)
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
We see the first part of a redemption story.
David begins this psalm with a call for mercy from God
it is God and only God’s unfailing love, His great compassion can iniquities be washed away.
God must have mercy on David, other wise there is no hope for him
He is completely dependent on God’s actions
it is only God who can save him
David acknowledges his sin
The weight of David’s actions seem to weigh heavy on him
His sin seems to always be with him, on his mind
David is alluding to another Old Testament passage...
Isaiah 59:12 (NIV)
For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
David has realized the imperfection of his character
He also knows that the sin committed isn’t just about Uriah, but God
God is hurt when David sins, God is hurt when we sin
And so what David pursued selfishly not only wronged Uriah, but also God
And yet God is just in His judgement
Even for us today, we are hopeless without God’s saving grace,
And what’s amazing is that, like how David confesses the guilt of his sin in this psalm, if we confess our sins we can be forgiven...
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
David is so overcome with this feeling of sinned, he even shows how while God desires faithfulness we are born into a sinful world.
And so while he acknowledges that he, and all of us, are stuck in our sin It is God who can free us.
And so David makes a plea to God...
A Plea to God
A Plea to God
Psalm 51:7–12 (NIV)
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
As was stated before, it is God who cleanses sin
And David uses an analogy here of cleansing with hyssop (a plant used for cleansing in rituals) the process of being cleansed by God
It is through this cleansing we can being whiter than snow.
The idea that sin left a stain that only God’s grace can remove
Lamentations and Isaiah both echo the idea of having sins washed away
It is God who cleanses, it is God who purifies, and now David is reliant on that same God he sinned against to cleanse him!
This cleansing cannot be done by David
David can only pray, it is God who can cleanse, who can restore, who can renew
David reaches out to God
John puts it this way in one of his letters...
1 John 3:3–5 (NIV)
All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
David calls out for God to cleanse his heart, and to keep him near
He prays for God’s spirit to sustain him
And then David seems to turn almost evangelistic is this song
Praising A Merciful God
Praising A Merciful God
Psalm 51:13–15 (NIV)
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
After pleading to God for cleansing, he then seems to turn to action.
David will share the good news of God’s salvation
He will teach in hopes to turn sinners back to God.
We have been commissioned by God to share the good news
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
As we have been redeemed we proclaim the redeemer.
His lips and voice will be used to sing of God’s righteousness and to proclaim His praise
It seems that David is now focused on glorifying God
God has redeemed him, and so now he aims to glorify God and help others leave they sinful ways
There is an emphasis on “finding their way back to You”
Thanks to David’s redemption, he now praises the name of God
David uses his voice to praise God
Following in David’s example we are to use our words to glorify God
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
We glorify God through our voice
We glorify God through song
David finishes this psalm by explaining the need of broken heart
Restoration of David
Restoration of David
Psalm 51:16–19 (NIV)
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
David does something a bit perplexing and says he would not sacrifice to God
Instead of a physical sacrifice...
David gives God his heart
The idea being that an act of sacrificing is nothing to God, if one’s heart is not in it.
The idea isn’t that David is dismissing sacrifices, instead that sacrifices are useless without a proper heart
God wants everything
Jesus put it this way
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
Jesus is quoting the shema
the idea is that God wants all from us
David’s heart was not focused on God when it was focused on his desires with Bathsheba
David was still king over God’s people, David was still “serving God,” but his heart was not right before God
Therefore there was no point to David’s “sacrifice”
However, once there is restoration, metaphorically like the walls of Jerusalem being built up, then God may delight in sacrifice.
And so it is that restoration that David seeks,
That desire for God’s mercy and to honor God once again.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Music is powerful
This psalm is powerful
It shows David’s heartfelt, gut wrenching emotions as he came to terms with the idea that he sinned against God
After God chose him to defeat Goliath
Even after God chose him to replace Saul as king
Even after God chose him to lead the Israelite nation
Even after God chose him to defeat the enemies of Israel
Even after all God did for him, David chose his desires over God
David chose sin
He chose to lust
He chose to manipulate
He chose to commit adultery
He he chose to murder
And it is after he realizes that do we read Psalm 51
yet God loved him and removed his sin
Which makes it a perfect representation of our struggle with sin
Cause I know we have all struggles
no matter what you chose over God, he is faithful to forgive
list sins
yet God still loves us
Jesus still died for us
Like David
But we can acknowledge our sin
We can reach out to God
We can use our voice to praise Him and share His good news
We can give God our everything
Especially because He gave us everything
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Prayer